Tiny GPU Targets IoT, Android Wear

NEW YORK CITY -- Imagination Technologies announced a new Android-compatible graphics core for wearables and the Internet of Things. The PowerVR Series5XE GX5300 core is 0.55 mm2 -- Imagination calls it the smallest chip in the industry -- and designed for low-cost, area-constrained applications.

"There have been several issues facing wide adoption of IoT and wearables devices," Alexandru Voica wrote in a company blog post. "This is because most of these devices are currently powered by sub-optimal solutions derived from smartphone chips which cause power consumption problems."

Though Imagination wouldn't share power consumption specs, EE Times found that the GPU performs at up to 1 GFlops and up to 250 MPixel/s of peak performance at 250 MHz. Additionally, the chip can handle up to 720-progressive video resolution.

The GPU leverages Imagination's PVRTC texture compression technology. Previous wearable devices could render graphics using a software-only approach or a 2D engine, but Imagination says newer devices require a GPU capable of processing high-resolution interfaces while offloading the main CPU.

The company cited graphics rendering on smart appliances as a good use of its GPU. For example, the Discovery IQ smart oven from Dacor uses a PowerVR GPU to run the Android graphical user interface.

The GX5300 builds on previous Series5 devices as an entry-level IoT chip. Imagination plans to scale up its Series6XE to focus on mainstream and high-end smartwatches and the IoT. Its Series6 will be targeted toward high-end wearables like smart glasses.

Imagination was an official launch partner for Android Wear, and the company has been tooling its processor IP for the OS.